Winter is nearly over in the Arizona desert. The grass is still green and the cacti look plump and perky. Not much is in bloom, the air smells moist at the end of day. As I painted, I wished the day would last a little longer, sitting there with bird calls and yipping coyotes in the earthy darkness.
I love Chicago. It’s urban living that has it all. The civic layout is so rich, imbued with art, local culture and pride of its heart-of-America location. The people are unpretentious in their sophistication and it’s easy to feel at home. The ethnicity of the neighborhoods reads clearly as one moves around and through them and, yet, they all clearly are All-American. I love Chicago.
Buck the cat watches his back.
Buck the Cat is in Wisconsin visiting his in-laws. He’s about had it with all the snow and sub-zero temperatures.
We were somewhere in North Carolina, on top of the Ridge, waves of mountains vanishing in the far away mist.
We spent the Thanksgiving break driving from New York to Florida, sightseeing, taking the long route. The Blue Ridge Mountains are unlike any that I’ve seen in the US, running north to south with parallel smaller hills flanking the east and west sides of the central Blue Ridge. The Parkway is a narrow and quaint two lane WPA project. Lots of folks drive it because of its spectacular beauty and its status as a National Parkway. You can see for miles along the road that follows the crest tof the Ridge.#jeankruegerfineart #troynyartist #blueridgeparkway
I’m inspired by the austerity of the road and bridge against the sky.
Buck the Cat lays taut on the floor, ready for action. Meow.
Buck the cat is looking up. Meow.
Buck the Cat sometimes goes up and beyond. Meow.
https://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/1444928
Daily Cat 256
It’s almost cold, leaves clatter in the wind, it’s the season of the witch.
In Octorer, 2023, Buck the Cat was considered as a nominee to be United States Speaker of the House. He declined, not having sufficient support from the rest of the Congress. He’s an independent.
Buck the Cat surveys his realm from is six foot cat tower in the living room. It’s good to be prince.
We’ve been taking the public ferry to and through the archipelago that surrounds Stockholm. Some of the boats are steamers, lovely old boats with thickly varnished wood and crimson velvet seating, chugging back and forth between the city and the far reaches of the outer islands. The round trip may take 3-4 hours. I wish you were here, you’d love it!
This is somewhere I’ve been before. Come with me. https://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/1412559
This painting shows landscape design in the city, the pollarding of a formal grove of trees. Pollarding involves the removal of tree branches to improve the fullness and shape of new growth that will follow. It’s a labor-intensive, tedious practice centuries old.
While we’re in Sweden, Buck the Cat is on his own vacation with his Wisconsin family. He’s doing well, just in case anyone’s wondering. Anyway, there’s this Cat Cafe here in Stockholm. For $20. and the cost of a coffee one is allowed to go into a room for 55 minutes where there’s 7-9 roaming cats, all available for adoption. The cast changes as thedays roll by. I’ve been there twice, fool that I am. I need a kitty fix occasionally. Mostly I watch them play, cavort, fight, eat and sleep. None seem to be lap cats and patrons are warned not to pick them up. Petting and the ear scratch is allowed. I’m getting the cat models I paint there to continue my Daily Cat series. However, I really miss Buck the Cat and there’s no substitute for him.
The Black-headed Gull is a species of the northern Europe and Asia. Their plumage changes seasonally, the example shown here being that of the warmer, breeding months. They’re 11-14″ long and are primarily found close to land. They eat everything. The bird show here was encountered while we sat waiting for a train in Stockholm. Their scientific name roughly translates as ‘laughing gull’.
This is a long view of a Stockholm Avenue, bordered by buildings built in the mid to late 19th c. The city is planned to have wide transit corridors that direct train, car, bike, scooter and pedestrian traffic all along the same path, accommodating each mode safely in parallel. The result is lots of wide urban space without buildings encroaching on it and a sense of openness in what is, in fact, an overall densly built environment. There’s an abundance of trees and flowers in these spaces. Lovely.
https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/jean-krueger/valhallawagen-se/1062388
Jean Krueger Fine Art 